


The Back-up Plan

by Christmasrose66



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-10
Packaged: 2019-11-14 23:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18062144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Christmasrose66/pseuds/Christmasrose66
Summary: Post Season 11 fluff, the plot is a continuation of events from the episode "This"





	The Back-up Plan

She woke up slowly, her mind foggy as her senses began to register the world around her. There was a smell in the air, she sniffed, coffee, freshly brewed. She could almost taste it. Then she heard the soft snuffles of her daughter, as the baby wriggled in her crib, next to her parents bed. Scully was constantly suprised by the incredible sharpness of her hearing for those specific sounds made by her daughter. Before Alice was born, Scully had often slept like a log, and she was still capable of falling asleep easily, but the slightest sound, at just that particular pitch made by her child, could wake her. Right now though, it was the coffee that was calling. She got up quickly and quietly, cooing softly to her daughter, unable to stop herself from reaching out to stroke the baby's cheek. Alice's little hand shot out towards her in curiousity, gripping her mother's finger with a strength that belied her size.   
"Ladies" Mulder greeted them, lounging in the doorway with a mug of coffee in his hand.   
"Umm, that smells so good" Scully said. He grinned knowingly and arched an eyebrow "Come and get it" he smirked. She grinned right back, two could play at this game, or at least they could if Alice would let go of her finger. She shook her hand, gently trying to release herself from the grip. Mulder laughed, seduction wasn't easy with a baby in tow, but he wouldn't have it any other way. All that mattered to him now, was the health and happiness of Scully and their daughter. He watched them affectionately as Scully leant over the crib and picked Alice up. "Hey there" she murmered as she cradled their daughter "Mom needs her coffee". Suddenly Scully felt a craving for pancakes. The idea almost suprised her, it wasn't her usual choice for breakfast, she wasn't normally hungry first thing in the morning. Watching her face, Mulder could tell that Scully had encountered a fleeting thought that suprised her. He was intrigued. He adored her so completely, she was a mystery he would never tire of, and he one that he was smart enough to know he might never truly solve. He waited patiently, not wanting to burst the bubble of that moment. Scully kept her thoughts to herself, and went downstairs for coffee. Mulder followed her, like a faithful puppy.   
They sipped their drinks in companionable silence for a few minutes, before Mulder began to get antsie. Scully noticed him fidgeting, one leg twitching up and down, as if pulled by imaginary strings. She caught his eye.   
"What were you thinking?" he asked.  
"What?" she replied, a slight blush on her cheeks. He grinned again, maybe she had been thinking about the two of them, would she tell him, if she had? He didn't want to push the issue, although her embarassment was kinda cute (he definitely wouldn't say that out loud, she was more than capable of slapping him.)   
"Actually" she said, pausing and looking him straight in the eye, "I was thinking about pancakes".   
Mulder spluttered into his coffee. "What, why?" he asked.  
"I...I just had a sudden desire for pancakes" she shrugged.  
"We could go out for some" Mulder offered. She smiled, the decision had been made.

When the plate of pancakes arrived, topped with maple syrup, buttermilk and nuts, the smile on Scully's face was infectious. Mulder had opted for a cooked breakfast, eggs over medium, and home fries that made his mouth water. Life was good in these small moments. "Oh, hey Bob!" a young woman's voice disturbed him from his reverie. Scully clenched her teeth "not this again" she thought to herself.  
"Hey Mollie" Mulder greeted the young waitress, a blonde in her early twenties. "This is my wife, Dana, and this is Alice". Scully felt as if time had stood still, coffee shops really were some sort of alternative universe, in which Mulder lived an entire fantasy life, that she had just stepped into. She opened her mouth to speak, and then thought better of it.   
Mollie's face softened as she looked at Alice, "Oh, she is gorgeous", and Scully's demeanour softened too. After all, this deception wasn't Mollie's fault.  
Something about Mollie, made Scully inclined to trust her, "Would you like to hold her?" Scully asked, and she let Mollie hold the baby.   
"I registered for school" Mollie directed this comment towards Mulder.   
"I knew you could do it" he replied, a note of pride in his voice.   
"I've a little catching up to do" she said, "but I have this great Professor, she's been so helpful. I told her that you encouraged me to apply, and it turns out you guys have met".   
Scully really was discovering a whole new aspect of Mulder's life. How well did Mulder and Mollie know each other? It was typical of him, to try to mentor the young woman, to encourage her to realise her dreams.   
"I'm at Semple Technical Academy, studying math" Mollie said to Scully, who was looking a little confused. "I guess Bob didn't mention me to you?"  
"No, he, he didn't" Scully replied, "but that's great"  
"Yeh," Mulder replied "Could be really useful" his tone slightly wistful. Scully could tell he had something in mind. Somehow he was going to involve Mollie in one of his crazy plans. Math at Semple, wasn't that what Langly's girlfriend had taught? Scully mused, she could already see where this was going. Mollie was a waitress, not a trained FBI agent, this could be dangerous. She watched Mollie holding their baby, maybe she could be persuaded to babysit? Of course the downside to that was that Scully had placed herself back in the field again. But someone had to keep Mulder in line, didn't they?  
Mulder kept abreast of the continuing research into alternative artifical realities, and he had been tracking unusual concentrations of electrical usage, trying to locate the backup simulation, assuming that it was somewhere in the States. There were several possibilites, but he could really have used the advice of their old friends The Lone Gunmen to narrow down those options, and if Mollie and her Professor could be persuaded to help him, then he was all for that. He glanced at Scully, and recognised the affectionately sceptical look on her face. A face he'd never get tired of looking at. They could read each other so well, after all these years, at times they moved like a single organism, like two parts of a complex whole. He was aware that she did most of the work in this regard. If they worked well together, it was mainly because she understood him, although she had perhaps smoothed the more socially awkward rough edges off him, over time."I owe you everything, and you owe me nothing" he remembered himself saying, and how true that statement really was. Mulder's mind was processing something Mollie had said, a little earlier.   
"Your Professor said she'd met me?" he asked Mollie  
"Yes, after the death of Doctor Karah Hamby, her name is Steph Waters" Mulder searched his memory and came up blank, he turned to Scully, who was smiling a little smugly. She obviously remembered Professor Waters, and was amused by the fact that Mulder didn't.  
"You remember her" he said to Scully. It was a statement, rather than a question.  
"Humm" she agreed. He was still looking puzzled, so she attempted to put him out of his misery. "She was about my height, with grey hair, kind-of Art School dress sense". Mulder remembered. A small, angular woman, swathed in a selection of clashing colours. Her appearance suggested a disregard for social conventions, that was right up Mulder's street, they had bonded over the social awkwardness of funeral formalities.   
"Oh, yeah, I remember her" a plan began to take shape in Mulder's mind. He needed to get back home and plot locations on a map (he was too old school to feel comfortable doing that on his phone). Scully could see that Mulder had already mentally left the coffee shop.   
"Give our regards to Professor Waters" she said to Mollie "and maybe you could do a little babysitting for us sometime? You're a natural with Alice."  
"I'd love that" Mollie smiled.

Back at the unremarkable house, Mulder spread a large map across his desk, weighing down the corners with a library book, an ashtray filled with sunflower seeds, a pyramid shaped block of agate, and a statuette of an alien's head. He marked small X's at eight possible locations. With Mollie's assistance, Mulder obtained a phone number for Professor Waters and arranged to meet her to discuss his ideas. Steph Waters was fascinated to discover that the theoretical possibilities she had formulated might actually be a reality. She wasn't entirely convinced by Mulder's wide-eyed evangelism, or his conspiracy theory approach to the death of Doctor Karah Hamby, but her scientific curiousity was peaked, and she was happy to help Mulder locate the most statistically likely location for the backup simulation. One of the eight possibilities had usage that fluctuated too widely, another had only been in use for less than a month, others were dismisssed as locations for gambling scams or money laundering. Eventually, they narrowed the options down to a single point, an apparently empty building in a small town just outside of Chicago. Mulder grinned. Steph Waters wasn't in on the joke. "Get a hold of yourself, Mulder" Mulder thought to himself, as the idea of flying into O'Hare airport wtih Scully, passed though his mind. They were older now, and "back in the day" was most definitely "back in the day". Maybe they should take the train. The route from DC to Chicago actually passed through the town of Valparaiso. Another reason perhaps, that this location had been chosen.   
And so, Mulder and Scully took the train to Valparaiso, leaving Alice at home with Mollie. Scully felt like she might be physically sick, her stomach was churning. This was the first time they had left their daughter overnight with someone else. She couldn't help remembering how it felt to leave William at the adoption agency. Her whole body seemed to be suffering from "pins and needles". When Mulder lightly touched her hand, she reacted as if he'd jabbed her with a needle. "What if we never see her again?" she whispered.   
"Oh, honey" Mulder wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and pulled her towards him. He felt terribly guilty, suddenly realising what he was putting Scully through. He didn't know what to say, all the platitudes in the world can't really help against irrational fears. He hoped that the comfort of his embrace might say more than any words could.  
The huge train towered over the station platform at Valparaiso, it was as though they had stopped in the middle of nowhere. There were no facilities of any sort in view, it was literally just a platform, and they were the only people who stepped off the train. Mulder raised his eyebrows quizically, hoping to make Scully laugh, but she wasn't amused. They took a cab into town, picked up a hire car and drove to the suspected location of the back up simulation. Scully remembered smashing the glass of the previous facility, she felt now that she would relish the chance to smash something again. What had happened to her? She used to be far better at keeping her emotions in check. Maybe getting older was good for her, or maybe it was motherhood? She didn't know, she just wanted to smash something, get out of there and go home. They parked the car a block from the abandoned building and made their way to the rear of the premises. A notice advised that "these premises are under surveillance : Purdue Services". There was no activity outside the building, and the windows were obscured by what looked like metal filing cabinets. Mulder tried the rear door, it was locked. He proceeded to pick the lock, while Scully acted as a look out. They could be arrested for this, she reflected, they weren't FBI agents anymore, even Skinner would have trouble bailing them out of this particular mess. Scully's eyes adjusted to the darkness inside the building, the only light came from vast banks of computers, and she shivered in the temperature controlled environment. Scully and Mulder looked at one another, "Let's do this" Mulder said. Scully took out her flashlight, and holding back to front, struck the nearest computer with it. Mulder reached for his gun,and used it in a similar fashion. "Hey!" a burly man in a security guard's uniform, ran towards them. Mulder drew his weapon, and the guard did the same, but his reflexes weren't as fast as Mulder's. When they were sure that the computers were all definitely destroyed, they left the building and made their way back home. The return journey felt like an anti-climax, a success but nothing to celebrate, at least until they were back once more in the unremarkable house, and Scully could finally hold Alice in her arms again. She breathed a deep sigh of relief, and Mulder thought that he could see the worries of the world falling off her. Their family was safe again


End file.
